Noted economist and an ex-Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank S S Tarapore today criticised the functioning of the country's mainstream banks when it comes to customer service. "It is unfortunate that despite all the efforts made by the government, the RBI, and the banks themselves, the quality of customer service is abominably poor. The perception of the common man is that the quality of banking service is dependent on who you are and who you know," Tarapore said. Addressing the fourth Financial inclusion & digital payment conference organised by the Internet & Mobile and Association of India here, Tarapore said, "incognito visits to bank branches have conclusively shown that the quality of services are sub-standard or even non-existent. "The recent Damodaran committee report on customer service has expressed concern about the rudeness of the bank staff in dealing with customers. One does not expect out-of-the-world quality of service, but it is incumbent on banks to provide quality service, at least equivalent to that provided by other service providers such as airlines, Railways and telecom companies," he said. Stating that banks cannot get away from the fact that the system has an attitudinal problem of hostility towards the common man, Tarapore said this is "all pervasive" in the banking hierarchy from top to bottom. For better customer service, he said, it is necessary to first motivate the top management and this would trickle down to the lower levels. The recent uproar when RBI put out a discussion paper on deregulation of savings bank deposit rates reflects the callous approach to customer service, he said.
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